Willie Mays was the quintessential five-tool player and arguably the greatest in the history of baseball. He could hit for average with light-tower power, run like the wind, chase down balls in the outfield, and throw. Mays played with panache, from his basket catches to wearing a hat just a bit too loose so that it would fly off his head as he raced around the bases. Mays passed away early this week at the age of 93.
Mays was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in 1979, six years after concluding a 23-year career in which he hit .301 with 660 Home Runs and 3,293 Hits. Having played for the Birmingham Black Barons at the age of 17, Mays was the last living Hall of Famer who got his professional start in the Negro Leagues.
The “Say Hey Kid,” who starred in New York and San Francisco, was an ambassador for the game of baseball. As a young player in New York City, he gained popularity not only with his feats on the diamond but also by being a man of the people, playing stickball with kids in Harlem before treating them to ice cream. Mays’ fame was transcendent; he was idolized by U.S. presidents of both parties.
“Presidents Bill Clinton, George Bush, and Barack Obama, baby boomers all, idolized him and desired contact with him. Clinton, a frequent golf partner of the Say Hey Kid, said, ‘When you see [Willie Mays] do something you admire, the image of that makes a mockery of all forms of bigotry.’ Bush, who named Mays the commissioner of the White House T-ball league, said, ‘When I was growing up, I wanted to be the Willie Mays of my generation.’ When President Obama was elected as the first African American in the job, Mays sent him a note: ‘Dear Mr. President, Move on in. Your Friend, Willie Mays.’”
— John Saccoman, in the Willie Mays SABR bio
At 5’10” and 170 pounds, the right-handed-hitting Mays didn’t have the size one might ordinarily associate with a premier home run hitter, but he had large hands and outstanding peripheral vision that, combined with this speed, contributed to his astounding range in chasing fly balls or line drives in the outfield.
Mays was a headliner for one of baseball’s greatest generations of outfielders, including Henry Aaron, Frank Robinson, Mickey Mantle, Roberto Clemente, and Al Kaline. In New York City in the 1950s, he was one of three future Hall of Fame center fielders (along with the New York Yankees’ Mantle and the Brooklyn Dodgers’ Duke Snider) that helped inspire the classic Terry Cashman song “Talkin’ Baseball” decades later.
In San Francisco in the late 1950s and 1960s, Mays and Aaron climbed the career home run charts together in pursuit of the Holy Grail of baseball records, Babe Ruth‘s 714, although Mays never got close enough to the mark to experience the racist hate mail that Aaron endured.
Until his passing, many considered Mays to be the greatest living baseball player, a mantle that many feel now belongs to his godson, Barry Bonds. Mays played for five years with Bonds’ father, Bobby Bonds.
“I am beyond devastated and overcome with emotion. I have no words to describe what you mean to me—you helped shape me to be who I am today. Thank you for being my Godfather and always being there. Give my dad a hug for me. Rest in peace Willie, I love you forever.”
— Barry Bonds (June 18, 2024)
“I fell in love with baseball because of Willie, plain and simple. My childhood was defined by going to Candlestick with my dad, watching Willie patrol center field with grace and the ultimate athleticism. Over the past 30 years, working with Willie, and seeing firsthand his zest for life and unbridled passion for giving to young players and kids, has been one of the joys of my life.”
— Larry Baer, Giants President and CEO (June 18, 2024)
“Willie Mays wasn’t just a singular athlete, blessed with an unmatched combination of grace, skill and power. He was also a wonderfully warm and generous person – and an inspiration to an entire generation.”
— Former President Barack Obama, on X (June 18, 2024)
Cooperstown Cred: Willie Mays (CF)
- Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1979 (with 94.7% of the vote)
- Birmingham Black Barons (1948), New York Giants (1951-57), San Francisco Giants (1958-72), New York Mets (1972-73)
- Career: .301 BA, 660 HR, 1,909 RBI, 3,293 Hits, 2,068 Runs
- Career: 155 OPS+, 156.2 WAR (Wins Above Replacement)
- 6th most HR in MLB history; 13th most Hits all-time
- 6,080 career Total Bases, 4th most all-time
- 156.2 career WAR is 3rd highest all-time for position players
- Led the National League in WAR for position players ten times
- Selected to 24 All-Star teams in 23 seasons (18 times as a starter) (two-time All-Star MVP)
- Won 12 Gold Gloves (tied with Clemente for the most all-time for an OF)
- 7,112 career putouts as an outfielder, most in baseball history
- N.L. Rookie of the Year in 1951; two-time N.L. MVP (1954 & 1965)
- Nine times in the Top 5 of MVP voting
- Won the 1954 World Series with the San Francisco Giants
(cover photo: National Baseball Hall of Fame Library)
Willie Mays Early Career Highlights
Willie Howard Mays was born on May 6, 1931, in Westfield, Alabama, about 10 miles west of Birmingham. His father (also Willie Howard Mays), nicknamed “Cat,” was a semipro baseball player for the Westfield team in the Tennessee Coal and Iron League. Willie’s mother (Annie Satterwhite) led her high school basketball team to three consecutive state championships. She left the family when Willie was a baby and settled in Birmingham.
Willie attended Fairfield Industrial High School, where he played football (as a quarterback) and basketball. One of Willie’s teachers was Angelena Rice, the mother of future Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The school didn’t have a baseball team, so Willie played alongside his father on the Fairfield Industrial League team and the Semipro Gray Sox.
Mays’ favorite player as a kid was Joe DiMaggio, the Yankees’ legend who was often referred to as baseball’s greatest living player while he was still alive.
“When we were kids growing up in the South we would always pick one guy to emulate. Ted Williams was the best hitter, but I picked Joe to pattern myself after because he was such a great all-around player. I felt if you could hit and play good defense, like he did, and if you could run and throw — if you could do all those things, then you could be in baseball a long time.”
— Willie Mays (as told to Bob Herbert, New York Times, Dec. 10, 1998)
Willie was only 17 when, in 1948, he played for the Birmingham Black Barons in the Negro American League. Willie hit only .233 (according to Baseball Reference), which, when Major League Baseball made Negro League statistics official a few years ago, lowered his career batting average from .302 to .301.
The Black Barons made the playoffs, and Mays drove in 5 runs in 7 games, including a walk-off RBI single in Game 1 of the NAL playoff series against the Kansas City Monarchs. The Black Barons went on to lose the Negro League World Series to the Homestead Grays.
Mays, now 18 years old, also played for the Black Barons in 1949. Although his ’49 statistics are yet to be recognized on Baseball Reference, the Biographical Encyclopedia for Negro League Baseball credits Mays with a .311 average in 75 games.
Mays was signed by the New York Giants in 1950 and, at 19, hit .353 for the Trenton Giants in the Interstate League (Class B). He started the 1951 season with the Minneapolis Millers (in AAA). In 35 games, he hit an amazing .477 with a .524 on-base percentage and .799 slugging percentage.
Just 19 days after his 20th birthday, Willie Mays made his Major League Baseball debut with the Giants at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Giants manager Leo Durocher put him in center field and hit him 3rd in the lineup. He went 0-for-12 in his first three games but, in his home debut at the Polo Grounds, tagged future Hall of Famer Warren Spahn for a massive home run atop the left-field roof.
Mays earned his nickname “The Say Hey Kid” early in his career.
“When I broke in, I didn’t know many people by name,” Mays once explained, “so I would just say, ‘Say, hey,’ and the writers picked that up.”
— Willie Mays (as reported in the New York Times by Richard Goldstein, June 18, 2024)
Mays went on to .274 with 20 home runs and 68 RBI, which earned him Rookie of the Year honors in the National League. Led by future Hall of Famer Monte Irvin, a Negro Leagues veteran who served as Mays’ surrogate “big brother,” the Giants won the National League pennant with 98 wins, winning the pennant in a three-game playoff series against the Brooklyn Dodgers, clinched with Bobby Thomson’s walk-off home run, the famous “Shot Heard Around the World.”
The Giants faced off against the New York Yankees and DiMaggio in what would be the final campaign for the graceful Yankee Clipper, Mays’ boyhood idol. DiMaggio hit his 8th and final World Series home run in Game 4 at the Polo Grounds.
“Joe hit a home run at the Polo Grounds in that series, and I knew that was his last year, so I was happy for him even though I was playing against him. So what I did was, I started clapping. And you just didn’t do that in New York. But there I was standing in the outfield for the Giants clapping for Joe as he’s rounding the bases.”
— Willie Mays (as told to Bob Herbert, New York Times, Dec. 10, 1998)
Mays hit just .182 in his first postseason appearance, and the Giants lost to the New York Yankees in 6 games. It was the 9th World Series ring for DiMaggio.
Incidentally, 1951 was the rookie year for DiMaggio’s successor in the Bronx (Mickey Mantle) and was notable in that the Giants featured three former Negro Leagues players in the outfield (Irvin, Mays, and Hank Thompson) in a World Series first.
In 1952, Mays hit .236 in 34 games before being drafted into the U.S. Army. In the Army, at Fort Eustis, Virginia, Mays mostly played baseball, an estimated 180 games by his count. It was in the Army that Mays perfected his patented “basket” catch; he felt that it helped him keep his eyes on the ball and his feet in position to throw.
He returned to the Giants in the spring of 1954, with, in retrospect, his service in the Army likely costing him the chance to finish his career with 700 home runs.
The Catch
Upon his return to Major League Baseball, a few weeks before his 23rd birthday, Willie Mays embarked on a 13-year run of brilliance rarely matched in the history of the sport. The 1953 Giants, without Mays, won 70 games and finished 35 games behind the Brooklyn Dodgers. In ’54, with Mays back on the diamond, the Giants improved to 97 victories, claiming the pennant by 5 games over the Dodgers. Mays led the N.L. with a .345 batting average. He hit 41 home runs with 110 RBI, 13 triples, 119 Runs, and a whopping .667 slugging percentage.
The Giants faced off in the World Series against the 111-win Cleveland Indians, with the tone set by arguably the most famous catch in baseball history. In the top of the 8th inning of Game 1 (at the Polo Grounds), the score was tied at 2; the Indians had runners at first and second with one out. Vic Wertz hit a flyball to deep center field, about 450 feet from home plate. Mays raced back to make an over-the-shoulder catch on a ball that would have been a home run in any other ballpark (the Polo Grounds was 483 feet deep in center). Mays’ spin and throw to hold the trail runner at first base was as impressive as what is now known as The Catch. New York went on to win in the 10th inning and went on to sweep the series in four games.
Here is how Mays recalled the play:
“Wertz hits it. A solid sound. I learned a lot from the sound of the ball on the bat. Always did. I could tell from the sound whether to come in or go back. This time I’m going back, a long way back, but there is no doubt in my mind. I am going to catch this ball . . . But that wasn’t the problem. The problem was Larry Doby on second base. On a deep fly to center field at the Polo Grounds, a runner could score all the way from second. I’ve done that myself and more than once. So if I make the catch, which I will, and Larry scores from second, they still get the run that puts them ahead. All the time I’m running back, I’m thinking, ‘Willie, you’ve got to get this ball back into the infield.'”
— Willie Mays, as told to Roger Khan
Mays went on to win the N.L. MVP Award, besting Cincinnati’s Ted Kluzewski, who led the majors in HR and RBI.
Willie Mays Final Seasons in New York: 1954-57
In 1955, Willie Mays followed up his MVP campaign with a lower batting average (.319) but increased power; he led all of MLB with 51 home runs, becoming just the 7th player in history to hit at least 50 taters. He also led the league (again) with 13 triples, a .659 SLG, and started stealing bases, swiping 24 bags after stealing just 8 times in 1954. He also led the league with 23 outfield assists.
The rest of the team sagged, however; the Giants won only 80 games, and Mays finished only 4th in the MVP vote, with Brooklyn’s Roy Campanella winning it for the 3rd time.
The Giants had a new manager in 1956 (Bill Rigney) and had a mediocre club, which won just 67 games. Mays had an “off year” by his lofty standards, hitting a mere .296 with 36 HR and 84 RBI. He led the majors with 40 stolen bases, and he was the first player since 1944 to reach that number. He also became just the second player in baseball history to hit at least 30 HR and steal at least 30 bases (the other was Ken Williams in 1922). Mays finished just 17th in the MVP vote, his only showing outside of the Top 6 during his 13-year peak.
Mays was a 30-30 man again in 1957 (35 HR, 38 SB); he also hit .333 with 20 triples and 97 RBI. Even so, he finished behind Henry Aaron, Stan Musial, and Red Schoendienst in the MVP vote, thanks most likely to the Giants party 69 team wins. In what was the final season for the Giants (and the Dodgers) in New York, Mays won the first of his 12 consecutive Gold Gloves (1957 was the first year of the award’s existence).
Willie Mays Hits the Bay Area
After the 1957 season, New York City lost two teams, with the Giants moving to San Francisco and the Dodgers to Los Angeles. In his first year in San Francisco, playing at Seals Stadium (where a young DiMaggio had once played), Mays had another superb campaign, hitting .347 with 29 HR, 96 RBI, 208 Hits, 121 Runs, and 31 SB. He finished second in the MVP vote to Chicago’s Ernie Banks, who led the league in both HR and RBI.
The Say Hey Kid continued to put up consistent numbers in the Giants’ early years in San Francisco (the team moved to windy Candlestick Park in 1959). From 1958-60, he averaged .313 with 34 HR and 110 RBI. He stole fewer bases as the years progressed, swiping 27 bags in ’58, 25 in ’60, and 18 in ’61. Although, because of his superior defense, he was still arguably the best all-around player in the game, he continued to fall short of the MVP Award, finishing 6th in ’59 and ’61 and 3rd in 1960. In April 1961, Mays became the 7th player in baseball history to hit 4 home runs in a single game; he was in the on-deck circle when the game ended.
The Giants missed out on the World Series in the franchise’s first four years in the Bay Area but put it all together in 1962, the second under new manager Al Dark. Besides Mays, the ’62 Giants featured four other future Hall of Famers (Orlando Cepeda, Willie McCovey, Juan Marichal, and Gaylord Perry) along with 24-game winner Jack Sanford, veteran left-hander Billy Pierce, right fielder Felipe Alou, and third baseman Jim Davenport.
The Giants finished the regular season tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers with 102 wins, with Mays breaking a 1-1 tie in the 8th inning of the last game of the season with his 47th home run of the season. As it was in 1951, the rules at the time provided for a three-game playoff. Mays set the tone in the first game, going 3 for 3 with 2 home runs and 3 RBI (the Giants won 8-0 and took the third game two days later to advance to the Fall Classic).
The Giants lost the World Series to the New York Yankees in 7 games, with Mays hitting just .250 (with one RBI). In the 7th game, with two outs and the Giants trailing 2-1, Mays doubled to represent the tying run, but McCovey lined out to end the game.
For the season, Mays hit .304 with 49 HR, 141 RBI, and 130 Runs but was the runner-up to the Dodgers’ Maury Wills in the MVP vote, who had the shiny object of 104 stolen bases. (For the record, the statistics from the three-game playoff count as regular season statistics, which is why Mays finished with 49 HR).
The Giants would not return to the World Series in Mays’ final 9+ seasons in San Francisco. Mays was 5th in the MVP vote in 1963 (.314 BA, 38 HR, 103 RBI) and 6th in 1964 (.296 BA, 47 HR, 111 RBI) before what was arguably his finest season in 1965.
Playing for first-year manager Herman Franks, Mays, in 1965, hit .317 with 52 home runs and 112 RBI. He also led the league in OBP (.398) and SLG (.645) while winning his 9th straight Gold Glove. For this, he was finally awarded his 2nd MVP trophy. The Giants were leading the N.L. by 4.5 games on September 16th but went 8-8 down the stretch, while the Dodgers closed with 15 wins in their final 16 games to win the pennant by two games. During the ’65 campaign, Mays became the 5th player in MLB history to swat 500 home runs (joining Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, Mel Ott, and Ted Williams).
In 1966, in what was the final year of his extraordinary 13-year peak (1966), Mays hit .288 with 37 HR, 103 RBI, and finished 3rd in the MVP vote. In June, he hit his 535th career home run, passing Foxx and putting him second on the all-time Home Run list.
From 1954-66, Mays had a slash line of .315/.390/.601. He averaged 40 HR with 109 RBI, 117 Runs, and 21 SB. Using modern metrics, he had a 166 OPS+ from 1954-66 and amassed an astounding 124.1 WAR. Take a look at how Mays ranked in a variety of statistical categories compared to his peers.
| Stat | Mays | Rank | Players behind (or player in 2nd place) |
|---|---|---|---|
| OPS+ | 166 | 2nd | Mickey Mantle |
| HR | 518 | 1st | 2nd: Hank Aaron (442) |
| RBI | 1414 | 2nd | Aaron |
| Runs | 1520 | 2nd | 2nd: Aaron (1,406) |
| Hits | 2383 | 2nd | 2nd: Aaron (2,434) |
| 2B | 380 | 2nd | 2nd: Aaron (414) |
| 3B | 113 | 1st | Roberto Clemente |
| SB | 270 | 3rd | Maury Wills, Luis Aparicio |
| BA | .315 | 2nd | Aaron |
| OBP | .390 | 5th | Mantle, Richie Ashburn, Stan Musial, Frank Robinson |
| SLG | .601 | 1st | 2nd: Mantle (.592) |
| WAR | 124.1 | 1st | 2nd: Aaron (96.4) |
| Rfield | 175 | 1st | 2nd: Jim Piersall (152) |
| Rbaser | 69 | 2nd | Aparicio |
*Rfield: runs above average due to fielding; *Rbaser: runs above average due to baserunning
Using modern metrics, the gap between Mays’ WAR (124.1) and that of the man in second place (Aaron, with 96.4) is astounding. In just those 13 years, Mays’ 124.1 WAR from 1954-66 is greater than the entire careers of all but 10 position players in the history of baseball. Mays won two MVPs in those 13 years but could have (should have) won many more. He led the N.L. in WAR 10 times in those 13 years.
Even if you’re a WAR skeptic or don’t really understand it, Mays’ dominance in traditional statistical categories (matched only in some cases by Aaron) is equally impressive.
Post-Peak: Willie Mays from 1967-74
Although still productive, Willie Mays began the decline phase of his career in 1967, his age 36 season. Battling flu-like symptoms for a good chunk of the season, Mays hit a mere .263 with 22 HR and 70 RBI. He rebounded a bit in 1968 (.289 BA, 23 HR, 79 RBI) while winning his 12th and final Gold Glove.
In 1969, the first year of divisional play, Mays only played in 117 games, the result of a knee injury. He hit .282 with 13 HR and 58 RBI; his 13th HR of the year was also the 600th of his career.
At the age of 39, Mays had a rebound year in 1970, hitting .291 with 28 HR and 83 RBI, and collected his 3,000th career hit.
The 40-year-old Say Hey Kid did even better in 1971, hitting .271 with 18 HR, 61 RBI, and a career-best .425 OBP, thanks to a league-leading 112 walks. He also posted a 6.3 WAR, which was second-best on the team (to Bobby Bonds). Mays was at first base for 48 games in 1972 to rest his legs and give McCovey regular breaks (he played the season with torn cartilage in his knee).
In what was the third year of divisional play, the Giants (with 90 wins) won the N.L. West. The Giants fell to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NLCS, with Mays hitting .267 with a home run and 3 RBI.
In 1972, Mays was hitting just .184 through 19 games and was traded “home” to the New York Mets. In his first game with the Mets, Mays broke a 4-4 tie against the Giants with his 647th career home run. Playing part-time, Mays finished the ’72 campaign with a .250 BA, 8 HR and 22 RBI. A few days after the trade, the Giants retired Mays’ uniform number 24.
Early in the next campaign, the 42-year-old Mays decided that 1973 would be his final year. With knee problems and cracked ribs, Mays hit .211 in his final season, with 6 HR and 25 RBI. Meanwhile, the Mets snuck into the playoffs with 82 wins and the N.L. East crown and defeated the Cincinnati Reds in 5 games to advance to the World Series.
In Game 2 of the Fall Classic, Mays was brought in as a pinch-runner (for Rusty Staub) at the top of the 9th inning, with the Mets leading 6-4. The A’s rallied to tie the score at 6 in the bottom of the 9th, in part due to a famous moment when he fell down while chasing a double by Oakland’s Deron Johnson. The Say Hey Kid redeemed himself, however, in the top of the 12th, delivering an RBI single off Rollie Fingers to break the 6-6 tie, scoring Bud Harrelson from 3rd base.
Mays’ final postseason moment was a pinch-hitting appearance in Game 3; he struck out in the bottom of the 10th inning in a game the A’s would go on to win 3-2. Of course, Oakland wound up winning the series in 7 games.
Hall of Famer Willie Mays
When he retired after the 1973 season, Willie Mays was 3rd on the all-time list with 660 home runs (behind Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron, who would break Ruth’s record of 714 taters early in April 1974). Mays was 8th on the all-time list with 1,909 RBI, 8th with 3,293 Hits, and 3rd in Runs Scored (2,068).
With 339 career Stolen Bases, he was the only player in history (at the time) to swat at least 300 HR and swipe at least 300 bags. To this day, Mays remains one of only three players (along with his godson Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez) to surpass 600 HR and 300 SB. To this day, Mays’ career WAR (156.2) is the 4th highest in baseball history, behind Cy Young, Bonds, and Babe Ruth.
Besides losing nearly two full years to his stint in the U.S. Army, many observers felt that Mays’ 15 years in Candlestick Park cost him the chance to surpass the 700 home run mark.
“Playing in Candlestick cost me 10, 12 homers a year,” Mays once said. “I’ve always thought it cost me the opportunity to break Babe Ruth’s record.”
— Willie Mays (as reported in the New York Times by Richard Goldstein, June 18, 2024)
The truth is that, from 1958-72, Mays hit 234 home runs in his home ballpark and 225 on the road. It is true, however, that Aaron benefitted from calling Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta his home ballpark. He hit 190 at “The Launching Pad” from 1966-74 compared to 145 in road games.
Now retired, in his early post-playing years, Mays was a “goodwill” coach for the Mets, helping young players and visiting farm teams.
In 1979, Mays was elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame on the first ballot, which was no surprise. What was surprising (even shocking) is that Mays earned “only” 94.7% of the vote, which means that 23 voting members of the BBWAA (Baseball Writers Association of America) did not find Mays worthy of a plaque in Cooperstown.
In the fall of 1979, Mays agreed to a contract for public relations work for Bally’s Casino in Atlantic City. Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn then banned Mays (and Mickey Mantle, who had a similar job) from holding salaried positions with any MLB clubs. The two legends were reinstated in 1985 by new Commissioner Peter Ueberroth. Mays spent most of the ensuing decades as a part-time consultant for the San Francisco Giants. He was given a lifetime contract with the Giants by new owner Peter McGowan in 1993.
In 2015, Mays was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama, and in 2022, his uniform number 24 was retired by the Mets.
How Many MVPs Should Willie Mays Have Won?
I wrote something similar to this when Hank Aaron passed away in early 2021. When it comes to writing a tribute to Willie Mays, I feel somewhat inadequate for the task. I’m 57 years old and started watching baseball in 1975, so I never saw Mays play. When evaluating Mays’ excellence, I can only go by the numbers and what others have written over the decades. Cooperstown Cred was founded with the intent to evaluate a player’s worthiness (or lack thereof) of a plaque in Cooperstown. With Mays, there is, obviously, no debate. So, because comparative analysis is the bread-and-butter of this site, I’ve decided to tackle the issue of how many more MVP Awards Mays deserved to win (in the real world, he won it only twice).
In today’s game, a player’s WAR (Wins Above Replacement) plays a significant role in determining the winners of the MVP and Cy Young Awards. This all-encompassing statistic is based on a complex formula that, for a position player, is designed to include batting, fielding, baserunning, double-play avoidance, ballpark effects, and positional value (meaning that a center fielder is inherently more valuable than a first baseman). For pitchers, the Baseball Reference version of WAR includes runs allowed (not earned runs), ballpark factors, opponent quality, and the quality of the defense of the pitchers’ team.
WAR is not perfect; it’s an approximation, but it’s a good guidepost that assigns value to a player’s overall worth.
As previously noted, Mays has the 3rd highest WAR in baseball history for position players, behind Bonds and Ruth. And, given that WAR is a counting stat but an algorithmic formula and doesn’t represent an actual event on the diamond, it’s reasonable to argue that Mays (156.2 WAR) is the greatest player in the history of baseball, given that the players ahead of him are within a reasonable margin of error (Bonds has a 162.8 WAR, and Ruth 162.2). Given the fact that Mays excelled in all aspects of the game (hitting, hitting with power, fielding, throwing, and baserunning), it should be no surprise that WAR recognizes that greatness.
Anyway, getting back to the matter at hand. First, let’s take a look at the MVP Award winners from 1954 to 1966 and, by comparison, the leader in WAR for each of those years. I share this graphic after the following caveat: I absolutely, positively do NOT believe that these awards should be based solely on WAR. Context of the player’s season should be taken into account: did the player finish strong or limp across the finish line? Did he help his team win their division or the pennant (prior to 1969)? What intangibles did the player bring to his team? So, with that out of the way, here’s the list.
| Year | N.L. MVP Winner | WAR | N.L. WAR Leader | WAR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1954 | Willie Mays | 10.5 | Willie Mays | 10.5 | |
| 1955 | Roy Campanella | 5.2 | Willie Mays | 9.2 | |
| 1956 | Don Newcombe | 5.3 | Mays & Duke Snider | 7.6 | |
| 1957 | Henry Aaron | 8.0 | Willie Mays | 8.3 | |
| 1958 | Ernie Banks | 9.3 | Willie Mays | 10.2 | |
| 1959 | Ernie Banks | 10.2 | Ernie Banks | 10.2 | |
| 1960 | Dick Groat | 6.1 | Willie Mays | 9.5 | |
| 1961 | Frank Robinson | 7.7 | Henry Aaron | 9.4 | |
| 1962 | Maury Wills | 6.0 | Willie Mays | 10.5 | |
| 1963 | Sandy Koufax | 9.9 | Willie Mays | 10.6 | |
| 1964 | Ken Boyer | 6.1 | Willie Mays | 11.0 | |
| 1965 | Willie Mays | 11.2 | Willie Mays | 11.2 | |
| 1966 | Roberto Clemente | 8.2 | Koufax & Juan Marichal | 9.7 |
This is an extraordinary graphic if you believe in WAR, even just a little bit. Based on that one metric, Mays was the best player in the N.L. in 10 out of 13 years from 1954-66 (tied with Duke Snider in 1956). The only players with a comparable span of dominance are Bonds (who led the N.L. in WAR 11 times in 15 years from 1990-2004) and Ruth (who led the A.L. 11 times from 1919-31). Bonds were awarded the N.L. MVP trophy seven times in those years. Ruth only won one MVP (in 1923), but that was partly because there was a rule at the time that a player could only win the MVP once (that rule ended in 1929).
So, should Willie Mays have won the MVP 10 times? Probably not, but let’s go through the N.L. MVP races year by year. For the purpose of this exercise, I’m going to focus on the statistics that were available at the time (which includes putouts and assists for defense) and see where the writers got it right or missed the boat:
1954: Mays (.345 BA, 41 HR, 110 RBI, 2nd most putouts and assists) was the easy (and actual) choice. The runner-up (Cincinnati Reds’ slugger Ted Kluszewski) led the N.L. with 49 HR and 141 RBI (while hitting .326), but Mays was a center fielder while Kluszewski played first base, and the writers clearly took that into account.
1955: Mays (.319 BA, 51 HR, 127 RBI, 24 SB) finished 4th in the voting behind Brooklyn’s Roy Campanella and Duke Snider and Chicago’s Ernie Banks. Let’s look at the numbers:
| Player | Vote Pts | BA | HR | RBI | H | R | SB | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roy Campanella | 226 | .318 | 32 | 107 | 142 | 81 | 2 | .583 |
| Duke Snider | 221 | .309 | 42 | 136 | 166 | 126 | 9 | .628 |
| Ernie Banks | 195 | .295 | 44 | 117 | 176 | 98 | 9 | .596 |
| Willie Mays | 165 | .319 | 51 | 127 | 185 | 123 | 24 | .659 |
It’s pretty clear to me that the writers missed the boat here. I included Mays’ slugging percentage because writers were aware of total bases (including doubles and triples, and Mays led the league in both total bases and triples). Mays also had 22 outfield assists and 399 putouts, both the best in the league.
Campanella and Snider finished first and second, most likely because the Dodgers (98 wins) won the pennant while the Giants finished with 80 wins. Banks was a 3rd-year player on a bad team, but 44 home runs for a shortstop was a new all-time record, and the writers clearly saw that as a shiny object.
1956: this was an off-year for Mays by his standards (.296 BA, 36 HR, 84 RBI, 40 SB), and he finished 17th in the voting. The Giants were a bad team (67 wins), so there was no compelling reason to put Mays high on this year’s list. There was no dominant player in 1956, so Don Newcombe (27-7, 3.06 ERA), as the ace of the pennant-winning Dodgers, was a reasonable pick, although Hank Aaron (.328 BA, 26 HR, 92 RBI, 200 Hits), who finished 3rd, might have been the better choice.
1957: this was Hank Aaron’s only MVP Award and, as the leader of the pennant-winning Milwaukee Braves, was a worthy selection. Aaron hit .322 and led the league with 44 HR, 132 RBI, and 118 Runs. Mays finished 4th (behind Stan Musial and Red Schoendienst) despite a .333 BA, 35 HR, 97 RBI, and 38 SB.
1958: Ernie Banks led the majors with 47 HR, 129 RBI, and a .614 SLG. Mays had a higher BA (.347) but “only” 29 HR and 96 RBI. Considering that Mr. Cub put up those numbers as a shortstop, he was an easy call.
1959: Banks (.304 BA, 45 HR, 143 RBI) won it again and was a worthy choice. Still, looking back, it surprises me that Aaron only finished 3rd, considering that he led the majors with 223 hits and a .355 BA to go with 39 HR and 123 RBI. Aaron’s teammate, Eddie Mathews (.306 BA, 46 HR, 114 RBI), was the runner-up to Banks.
1960: Mays should have won it this year but finished 3rd behind a pair of Pirates (shortstop Dick Groat and third baseman Don Hoak). The Pirates won the N.L. pennant, while the Giants finished with 79 wins, which explains what actually happened. Here are the numbers:
| Player | Vote Pts | BA | HR | RBI | H | R | SB | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dick Groat | 276 | .325 | 2 | 50 | 186 | 85 | 0 | .394 |
| Don Hoak | 162 | .282 | 16 | 79 | 156 | 97 | 3 | .445 |
| Willie Mays | 115 | .319 | 29 | 103 | 190 | 107 | 25 | .555 |
| Ernie Banks | 100 | .271 | 41 | 117 | 162 | 94 | 1 | .554 |
Groat clearly won on the strength of his league-leading .325 BA and that he was a solid shortstop on a pennant-winner. But his defense wasn’t good enough to win the Gold Glove (Banks won it), and he didn’t contribute any meaningful power (2 HR, 26 doubles, 4 triples). Hoak’s runner-up finish is even more puzzling. Banks probably would have finished higher if not for the putrid performance of the Cubs (60 wins).
1961: Frank Robinson (.323 BA, 37 HR, 124 RBI, 22 SB) won the MVP because he was the best player on the Cincinnati Reds, who won the pennant. Good choice.
1962: as previously noted, the Dodgers’ Maury Wills edged out Mays for the MVP (barely) based on his eye-popping 104 stolen bases, a new MLB record.
| Player | Vote Pts | BA | HR | RBI | H | R | SB | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maury Wills | 209 | .299 | 6 | 48 | 208 | 130 | 104 | .373 |
| Willie Mays | 202 | .304 | 49 | 141 | 189 | 130 | 18 | .615 |
| Tommy Davis | 175 | .346 | 27 | 153 | 230 | 120 | 18 | .535 |
| Frank Robinson | 164 | .342 | 39 | 136 | 208 | 134 | 18 | .624 |
Today’s writers would have never given the MVP to Wills over Mays, and the 1962 writers barely did. The number that clinches it for me is that both players scored 130 runs, but Mays drove in a whopping 93 more. And, as icing on the cake, he helped the Giants win the pennant by beating the Dodgers in the three-game playoff, which counted as part of the regular season.
1963: Sandy Koufax (25-5, 1.88 ERA, 306 strikeouts, and a no-hitter) won easily as the ace for the pennant-winning Dodgers. He was the right choice to these eyes.
1964: Willie Mays finished 6th in the 1964 MVP vote and, in my opinion, had a better year than the five players who finished ahead of him in the voting (including the winner, St. Louis third baseman Ken Boyer). Although the Giants only finished three games behind the pennant-winning Cardinals, they really weren’t in the running, only finishing close to the top because of the epic collapse by the Philadelphia Phillies (who finished one game behind the Cards along with the Cincinnati Reds). Mays finished behind four players from the contending teams, and Joe Torre, who got bonus points for being a catcher, but wasn’t close to Mays’ league offensively.
| Player | Vote Pts | BA | HR | RBI | H | R | SB | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ken Boyer | 243 | .295 | 24 | 119 | 185 | 100 | 3 | .489 |
| Johnny Callison | 187 | .274 | 31 | 104 | 179 | 101 | 6 | .492 |
| Bill White | 106 | .303 | 21 | 102 | 191 | 92 | 7 | .474 |
| Frank Robinson | 98 | .306 | 29 | 96 | 174 | 103 | 23 | .548 |
| Joe Torre | 85 | .321 | 20 | 109 | 193 | 87 | 2 | .498 |
| Willie Mays | 66 | .296 | 47 | 111 | 171 | 121 | 19 | .607 |
Boyer had an excellent year, to be sure, and although he didn’t win it in 1964, he was a five-time Gold Glove Award winner, but Mays’ vastly superior power and speed made him the more worthy choice.
1965: Mays actually won this year and deserved it (.317 BA, 52 HR, 112 RBI), although Koufax had a great year too (26-8, 2.04 ERA, 383 SO). Although the Dodgers won the pennant, the Giants were in contention, finishing just two games behind.
1966: Mays finished 3rd this year, behind Pittsburgh’s Roberto Clemente and Koufax, with The Great One barely edging the Left Arm of God. Clemente hit .317 with 29 HR, 119 RBI, and 202 Hits (while winning his 6th straight Gold Glove), but Koufax, in his final year, went 27-9 with a 1.73 ERA and 317 whiffs. Additionally, Koufax went 5-1 with a 1.02 ERA in his last 6 starts to lead the Dodgers to the pennant (they finished 1.5 games ahead of the Giants). Mays had the last of his 13 consecutive superb seasons (.288, 37 HR, 103 RBI), but his numbers weren’t up to his own lofty standards.
The final verdict: based on my own review of the numbers, Willie Mays deserved to win six MVP Awards rather than two.
Tributes to the Greatness of Willie Mays
Finally, here’s a look at some of the reverent comments conferred upon Willie Mays, the ballplayer, including his own words.
“Willie Mays is the closest to being perfect I’ve ever seen.”
— Joe DiMaggio (as reported in the New York Times by Richard Goldstein, June 18, 2024)
“‘The word is magnetism,’ Leo Durocher said in his autobiography ‘Nice Guys Finish Last’ (1975, with Ed Linn). ‘A personal magnetism which infects everybody around them with the feeling that this is the man who will carry them to victory.’
— Leo Durocher, Giants manager from 1948-55 (as reported in the New York Times by Richard Goldstein, June 18, 2024)
“When I was in the Big Leagues, there was a tremendous amount of great ballplayers, but the guy who stood head and shoulders above them all was Willie Mays. He was so exciting – not only exciting to the fans, but to the teams he played with – the Giants – and against. He was just amazing.”
— Ernie Banks (as told to Art Rust, Get That Nigger Off the Field: An Oral History of Black Ballplayers From the Negro Leagues to the Present, 1992)
“When he was selected for the Hall of Fame, Mays was asked to name the best ballplayer he had ever seen. ‘I think I was the best ballplayer I’ve ever seen,’ he replied. ‘I feel nobody in the world could do what I could do on a baseball field.’”
— Willie Mays (as reported in the New York Times by Goldstein, June 18, 2024)
RIP Willie Mays. Say Hey to your fellow Hall of Famers in heaven.
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